Why Cars Are the New Spare Room

Seeing more people sitting for hours in their parked cars? It's not your imagination and here's why.

Mikaela Judd spends 6-7 hours per week working from her car. She deliberately chooses safe, pretty spots to park and brings everything she needs. (Photo: MikaelaJudd)

Mikaela Judd is a young mother and freelance writer who found herself wasting nearly an hour of productive quiet time during her commute back and forth from her daughter’s preschool. She began to park her car near the school and spend those hours writing and responding to emails.

As time went on Judd became kind of expert at surrounding herself with the things she needed, as well as things that made her car time more pleasant. She wrote a blog post with tips such as using a wood cutting board for your lap desk and packing fresh food in a Yeti cooler.

Here in my car

I feel safest of all

I can lock all my doors

It’s the only way to live in cars_Gary Numan “Cars”

Gary Numan had it right

Spotting people hanging out in their cars used to be pretty rare. Up until maybe ten years ago you might see a person waiting for a spouse to come out from the supermarket or maybe taking a quick nap in a rest area and that’s it. But things have changed.

Over the last few years I’ve realized that in probably three out of five cases, the car next to me in a parking lot is occupied. (Photo: Sonny Mauricio on Unsplash)

In a 2020 survey of 2,000 people by OnePoll, nearly 75% of the respondents admitted they use their cars as a private space to get away from the people they live with. The survey was conducted during the early, dark days of COVID, when restive people would do just about anything to get out of the house.

With rents being so high in most parts of the country, apartments and houses are more crowded. People need roommates to afford the rent and some families share even their bedrooms with other family members. This is a reality in most parts of the world too, and it is not necessarily a bad thing.

However, the precious quiet time every human needs is diminishing and one’s car offers respite. “It’s quite normal for people to do this,” says Ky in his TikTok post “Understanding Why People Sit in Their Cars.” He mentions how it might be someone sitting for a moment between one people-heavy activity and the next. “So this is their moment to just ‘not people’ for a second,” he says.

He also refers to car sitting as a tool for people with ADHD. “You can sit (there) when your executive function is not functioning,” he says, describing himself as an introvert with ADHD.

Spare room on wheels

The study cited above also found that nearly 70% of the respondents considered their car as an extension of their home. They have an emotional attachment to their vehicles; an owned car often conveys a sense of control and pride of place.

This phenomenon is completely separate from people living in their cars, whether voluntarily or involuntarily. That’s a whole other story. I’m looking here at a car as a spare room, not a dwelling place.

Consider my sister Rebecca, who earned a deserved reputation in the family as someone who lingered for long periods of time in her car. Rebecca lived in a comfortable clapboard house where she took care of our mom and her young son seven days a week. But she developed a habit whereby a 10-minute trip to the pharmacy took more like an hour or two.

What did she do? Well, I’m pretty sure long text messages were a part of her car ritual because I was often the recipient. She did smoke, and didn’t allow herself to smoke in her mom’s house, so her car was the smoking room, too. And then there was her chronic need to clean receipts out of her purse and take notes on what her goals were for the evening or the next day. I imagine she closed her eyes sometimes, or sung along to something on the radio.

It drove me crazy when she’d go missing so frequently. I considered it weird behavior. And then I started noticing it everywhere. People were staying in their cars! They were hanging out and they looked pretty happy doing it.

Make Yourself Comfortable

This enterprising man (I couldn’t find his actual name) built a pretty slick car office with wood pieces and lots of ingenuity. (Photo: basbuild)

I came across this guy after many fruitless searches for cool car interiors that actually enhance the “sitting in my car” experience. Mr. Enterprising has four hours of down time in between classes and looked for ways to turn his car into both a mobile office and a comfortable place to nap. Instead of using the driver’s seat, he modified the passenger and back sections.

For the nap bed, Mr. Enterprising added a piece of wood with supporting legs at the top of the seat back to close the gap between it and the driver’s seat in front of it. The extension made it just the right length for him to lie down with legs fully outstretched. (Photo: basbuild)

He created a YouTube video showing the whole process and it is fascinating. His car is not super luxe and his wood components are simple with no finishing paint or stain. He even has random clutter lurking under the seats so this isn’t a styled thing.

What it does do is legitimize his need for a small space that works for him. The car is a space that he already has to be in for a good part of the day so it makes sense to make it more comfortable.

In the hatchback area Mr. Enterprising fitted a portable cooler/refrigerator on top of his carpeted toolbox. (Photo: basbuild)

After complaining for a long time about my sister’s habit I found myself lingering in my parked car more frequently. It is quiet. It is calming. I find time to collect my thoughts, answer a text I keep forgetting to answer and perhaps think about the things I need to do while my brain is receptive.

So I am now a big fan of enjoying my spare room on wheels and I encourage you to enjoy the moments of peace you get in your parked car.

Just check to make sure no one is waiting for your space.